Prep Softball: Lady Pirates blank Nevis in regular season finale, 10-0

Jenny Swenson tossed a one-hitter as Verndale blanked the Nevis Tigers 10-0 in five innings during Thursday’s non-conference game.

The senior walked two and struck out seven in the regular season finale to give the Lady Pirates a bit of momentum heading into the Section 6A playoffs. It was the third win of the season for Verndale, which secured the No. 8 seed in the south subsection bracket.

Verndale scored twice in the opening frame and then erupted for six runs with two outs in the fourth to put the game out of reach. Kirsten Korfe and Jordy Schluttner hit RBI doubles and Mara Kern drove in another run with a single. The Tigers committed three errors to fuel the Lady Pirates’ outburst.

Korfe added a RBI groundout and Lizzy Yungbauer singled home Kern to activate the 10-run rule in the top of the fifth.

Nevis’ Kate Dierkising broke up the no-hit bid in the fourth with a single. The sophomore was also tagged with the pitching loss for the Tigers. She surrendered four earned runs on eight hits, walked five and struck out two.

Verndale (3-17) will go against ninth-seeded Brandon-Evansville during the pigtail round at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The winner will face top-seeded Ashby at 5 p.m.

Verndale at Nevis on May 19
Lady Pirates 10, Tigers 0 (5 innings)
Verndale 2 0 0 6 2—10 8 1
Nevis 0 0 0 0 0—0 1 6
WP: Jenny Swenson (Verndale) 5IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 7K
LP: Kate Dierkising (Nevis) 5IP, 8H, 10R, 4ER, 5BB, 2K
Verndale—Teresa Moenkedick 2-2, 3R; Mara Kern 1-3, 2R; Kirsten Korfe 2-4, 2R, 2B, RBI; Lizzy Yungbauer 1-4, R, RBI; Jordy Schluttner 2-3, R, 2B, RBI
Nevis—Dierkising 1-2